Lily - Love of a mother
by Liz Jean Tonks
Summary: 'love... leaves its own mark... not a scar, not a visible sign. It lives deep in your soul.' /Canon-true story about Lily saving her beloved child.
1. Protection

This is a story featuring Lily Potter who protects her son...

Part of the 'Are you crazy enough to do it?' Challenge

 _42\. (Book title) No Greater Love_

 **Chapter 1: Protection**

Dumbledore's face was serious. 'According to the prophecy, a boy, born at the end of July, will have powers to vanquish the Dark Lord. Lord Voldemort is aware of this prophecy. He was told about at least parts of it, and plans to go after your family, and to kill Harry – and perhaps you two, too. We have to take immediate action.'

She nodded. Her face was pale, and she grabbed James hand more tightly.

'I suggest the Fidelius charm', Dumbledore went on. 'I assume you have heard of it?'

Lily nodded.

'Good. You should be moving house, and we will be securing this house with protective charms. However, true protection will only be provided with the Fidelius Charm. You only need a trustworthy secret-keeper…'

He looked from one to another.

'Sirius', James said immediatley. 'There is no better person for the job.'

Dumbledore looked from one to the other. Lily didn't look too convinced.

'What is it? Do you think Sirius can't be trusted?'

'I never said that!', she said emphatically. 'I merely thought… Don't you think Remus would be more suitable? I just have the feeling he's…' She searched for the right words.

James seemed to struggle with himself.

'You don't trust him completely, do you, James?', she asked quietly.

'How can you know whom to trust these days?', he said darkly.

'We do know for certain there is a betrayal, Lily', Dumbledore considered, 'information has been passed to the Dark Lord he couldn't possibly have been aware of…'

She stared at both of them. 'But Remus? It just seems so unlikely…'

She looked at James. 'It could be anyone else as well, James. Even Sirius-'

'Sirius? No way', James protested immediatley. 'Lily, sorry, how can you suggest he's-'

'how can you suggest it is Remus, James, one of your best friends? Mind you, speaking of friends, it could be Peter as well, or me! That way you can't trust anyone anymore!'

'What am I supposed to do about it, Lily? There is a traitor, undenyingly, and we can't throw around ourselves with information!'

She shrugged. 'Maybe not, but accusing one's friends? We can't fight this on our own, James.'

'I wasn't going to say that', he said, 'you know I don't think we… Anyway, I think it should be Sirius. He has proven he can be trusted…'

'May I point out that Voldemort might be expecting you to secure yourselves by the Fidelius charm, and that he is very well aware of your close relationship with Sirius, James?', Dumbledore said gently. 'Maybe it would be better if-'

'That's right', James interrupted. 'I haven't thought about that.'

There was a moment of silence, everyone making up his own mind.

'May I suggest myself as secret-keeper?', Dumbledore said, 'if you are agreeing that I am, at least, not the traiter?'

James smiled slightly. 'Thanks for the offer, but… I want to talk about this with Sirius.'

Lily looked at him, doubting.

'I trust him!', James empathised.

'Yes, yes, me, too… But James, we're loosing time here… Maybe we should make Albus secret-keeper, they would never get him.'

'No!', James said strongly. 'Not that we doubt you, you know that… But it would be the most obvious thing to do, wouldn't it?'

He looked at Lily. 'We'll talk to Sirius first.'

VVVV

'No, I don't think you should make me secret-keeper', Sirius said. 'Too many old schoolmates are Death Eaters now, they'll shoot directly on me. Not like I would ever give in, you know that, but if someone else kept the secret, it would give you even more time and safety.'

James nodded.

'How's this', he said slowly, 'we make Peter secret-keeper, -no, Lily, please hear me out-, and make it look like, even to Remus, that it's me, really. We'll tell noone but Peter. Believe me, Lily, it would be the perfect plan… A false trail. Noone could guess we'd make Peter secret-keeper, they'd think he hasn't got the brains… They wouldn't care for him.'

Lily stared at him. 'I don't know, Sirius… They'd have a point, wouldn't they? I mean', she said hastily, 'I like Peter and everything, but would he be able to-'

'I think', James said, 'Wormtail is capable of more than we might think. I think you're right, Sirius. It would be perfect.'

Lily hesitated. 'Okay', she said quietly. 'But let's tell noone but him. Not even Remus. Not even Dumbledore.'

James nodded. 'The less people know, the better. We'll tell some people from the order it's you, Padfoot, and that's that.'

Lily nodded, still looking worried. She was afraid of this plan, afraid that it might fail… But then again, should it fail, she knew what she'd have to do. She knew how to keep Harry safe. She took a breath. It was time to leave.

* * *

TBC...


	2. Harry's birthday

**Chapter 2: Harry's birthday**

She stood in front of the baby, singing quietly to him. James entered, and she turned around. He bent over to Harry. 'Happy birthday, Harry. Have you had a good night, had you?'

He began to tickle the little boy's feet. Lily smiled of pride.

'Already one year', she whispered, and some tears flickered over her cheekes. James wiped them away and gave her a soft kiss, before taking her hand.

'To Harry James Potter', he said. She smiled and kissed her baby boy.

VVVV

'See, that's from your godfather', she said gently to Harry, handing over the little broom. 'Do you want to try it out?'

Harry stroked over the wood. She helped him onto it, and the boy started zooming around the room. James entered.

'That's my boy', he said proudly, 'he'll make a quidditch champion, just like his dad.' Lily laughed. 'As long as he hasn't inherited his father's arrogance.'

James grinned. 'Can you have an eye on him?', Lily enquired, 'I would like to send a letter to Padfoot.'

She had gotten used to use the Marauderer's codenames as well now. In light of Voldemort running after them, it seemed like an additional safety measure.

'Yeah, of course', James said.

They were in hiding for about a month now and Lily knew James was getting depressed being stuck inside the house. The way he behaved she thought, if it hadn't been for Harry, he'd probably ignored all necessaire protection and went out to fight Voldemort. She also understood him too well. At least there was Harry, Harry, the little sunshine that had no idea what was happening outside the house, who needn't worry. Her heart sank. She'd do anything to make sure he was kept safe. She had done some talk with Dumbledore about that matter, and knew, Harry would be safe the moment Voldemort would allow her to live, the moment she would be getting the choice in dying and living. She hadn't doubted a single second what she'd be doing. Little Harry. Hopefully he wouldn't have to lose his mum. Hopefully the fidelius charm would be keeping Voldemort away, that might just be it… But then again, what end would it take? The order told them they kept losing battles, members and their families were being killed… it didn't look too good, they were losing, and that wasn't quite a good thing to hear when you were stuck in the house, unable to fight yourself.

She wished this to be over, for all of them. She took a deep breath before starting the letter. It seemed to take ages. As she went back into the living room she noticed Harry was still zooming around, James watching him fondly. He turned to Lily.

'He's a natural, I tell you.'

She laughed. 'Of course. Like his father.'

'Yes', said James proudly, 'I think he'll end up seeker for Gryffindor as well.'

She laughed slightly. 'We'll see.'

He pulled her closer. 'Weird, isn't it?'

She didn't answer.

'There might be no Hogwarts anymore if Voldemort takes over.'

'There's always Dumbledore.'  
'Yes, well, blimey, I hope we'll keep him. I mean, he's not excactly the youngest.'

They got silent.

'James…Be honest, do you think we'll be able to safe him? Do you think we'll survive this?'

It took him a while for him to answer, choosing his words.

'I think we'll be able to keep him safe', he retorted finally, 'but I am… not certain we'll get thrrough this. I don't know, Lily. It sucks being stuck in the house. I wish I could do something.'

'Yes… Well, it's for Harry, after all.'

'Yeah, for Harry.' He looked at the baby boy. 'Maybe we should've gone abroad.'

'That wouldn't be any safer. And we couldn't hear the latest reports of the order, nor could we see any of our friends.'

'Yeah, that's right… I'm scared, Lily. Scared for Harry.'

'Hopefully our bluff is working. But if not… James, Peter wouldn't give in.'

'I hope', James whispered, 'he just seems so under pressure lately… I just keep thinking we might have made the wrong choice.'

'If we have, it'd be too late now. And I trust Peter can stand against them. It was you who said he can take more than we all think.'

'Yeah… well, I'm hope I'm right about that.' He stared out of the window. 'I mean, this is Voldemort we're talking about.'

'He couldn't just break the Fidelius Charm either, even if he's powerful. Besides I don't think he suspects Peter.'

'I hope.'

She looked at him and took his hand. 'Harry will be safe, James. I promise.'

* * *

TBC... some day. I simply have to many projects running at the moment and this one is not my highest priority. Still I definitely intend to finish it :D


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